Rock County 4-H Fair packs it up for 2015
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JANESVILLE—The Rock County 4-H Fair experienced another successful year in 2015, organizers said.
The first five days of the six-day event drew 73,113 people. Numbers for Sunday, the fair's last day, were not available before press time.
Attendance for the first two days beat the average turnout by 1,000 and 2,000 people, respectively, according to Gazette numbers dating back to 1987.
Things fell back from there, however, with attendance dipping below average in days three, four and five. Attendance never fell below 12,100 during the first five days, organizers said.
Wednesday's turnout of 18,572 was the best of the week. It also was the highest attendance rate for the fair's second day since 2007, when 19,000 people showed.
The fair was aided by weather that only once strayed into the 90s—on Sunday. Rain also was forecast for the final day, but dry weather prevailed.
“The weather's been wonderful,” said John Quinn, fair board president.
Quinn said he was pleased by the turnout that musical acts such as Cole Swindell and Tyler Farr received. It was the second year the fair started charging admission for some events at the grandstand. Tickets ran between $10 and $25.
The high end of that spectrum went to the Montgomery Gentry concert on Thursday, which was one of the days attendance fell below average. Quinn said Sunday that he wondered if the price was too high.
“I was a little disappointed in the number of people (at that show),” Quinn said. “Maybe we overpriced ourselves a little bit.”
Among the free acts, Quinn said the Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team was one of the week's big winners.
“They've been wonderful every performance,” Quinn said.